Skeleton of an Aston Martin sells at auction for $435,000

Those curves, those lines, those… internal support structures? If, as they say, real beauty is on the inside, then does that make the 1964 Aston Martin DB5 that sold at this past weekend’s Bonhams auction the most beautiful Aston Martin of them all? One bidder must have thought along those lines, paying more than $435,000 for the basket case.

Described as a numbers-matching example of the “must-have” DB5, the Aston, chassis number DB5/1497/R, reportedly suffered a front-end collision sometime in the early 1970s, apparently shortly before the current owner bought it with intentions of rebuilding it. Other than its status as a rare and desirable car, there was apparently little to discern 1497/R from most other DB5s – it didn’t have much in the way of provenance, after all – and thus apparently little motivation on the owner’s part to do more than disassemble it.

While records are spotty, according to the auction description the chassis was repaired sometime in the intervening years, and the subsequent owner did procure two front sheetmetal assemblies for use in rebuilding 1497/R – one for a DB5 that may be a reproduction, and one from a DB6. The original engine remains with the car, and it sits within a rolling chassis, but much of the rest of the car came in boxes or otherwise separate from the car, as was the case with the apparently original rear bodywork.

Estimated to sell for £100,000 to £150,000 ($168,000 to $250,000), DB5/1497/R sold for £259,100, or about $435,500.

1963 Aston Martin DB5.

While perhaps the most dire of the cars at the Bonhams Aston Martin Works sale this past weekend, the skeleton DB5 was far from the only Aston in need of serious attention that sold for six figures. It wasn’t even the most expensive project car at the sale. For that dubious honor, we turn to a 1963 DB5, chassis number DB5/1451/R, which also suffered damage in a front-end collision. Unlike the skeleton DB5, however, 1451/R – considered a prototype for the Vantage – remained for the most part intact after the accident, which occurred sometime before the late 1970s. Bonhams noted that the late owner bought it then with intentions of restoring it as his last project, but died before he could make any headway on it. Estimated to sell for £50,000 to £80,000 ($ to $), DB5/1451/R sold for £393,500, or about $660,000.

1958 Aston Martin DB Mk III.

Other project cars at the Aston Martin Works auction included a 1960 Aston Martin DB4 Series II, chassis number DB4/331/R, originally estimated to sell for £100,000 to £150,000, which sold for £163,900 ($275,500); a 1958 Aston Martin DB MK III Drophead Coupé by Tickford, chassis number AM300/3/1430, originally estimated to sell for £40,000 to £60,000, which sold for £144,860 ($243,500); a 1961 Aston Martin DB4 ‘Series 3,’ chassis number DB4/666, originally estimated to sell for £120,000 to £150,000, which sold for £130,300 ($219,000); a circa 1964 Aston Martin DB5, originally intended as a parts car for the 1963 DB5 above, originally estimated to sell with no reserve for £10,000 to £20,000, which sold for £102,300 ($172,000); and a 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 ‘Mark I’ 3.0-Litre Sports Saloon by Mulliners of Birmingham, chassis number LML/731, originally estimated to sell for £30,000 to £50,000, which sold for £79,900 ($134,000).

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Rich Saylorsays:

June 1, 2017 1:37 pm

Wait, wait…if there were ever a case for “trickle-down economics” this is it! Just think of all the tradespersons who stand to feed their families in support of someone’s obsession with a particular marque, especially one with the cachet of being associated with the “James Bond” phenomenon! Metalworkers, engine/mechanical specialists, panel beaters & bodymen, glaziers, instrument restoration specialists, woodworkers, leather upholstery craftsmen, wheelwrights, the list goes on & on! Thanks to extravagances like this, these craftspersons will be around for the rest of us who regrettably operate on a somewhat more restricted budget, so please, please don’t complain or discourage this somewhat rarified support for our hobby and those who make it possible for the rest of us!

BTW I’m currently rebuilding a 1935 SS 2.5 liter Jaguar saloon to SS100 specifications, so I have no particular claim on automotive sanity, myself. Sure is fun, though!